In order to bring out the difference existing between the French and English styles and the Dutch style, I have placed on one plate of my album the various main frames. This drawing is sufficiently eloquent by itself, still, I must once more call attention, in passing, to the differences which distinguish these various styles. These differences existed at first in the shape and composition of the main frames; then, the English vessels had less sheer, were less high and were not square at the stern. (~Van Yk~, p. 17.) The English seem also to have used crossed riders, instead of stanchions with vertical faces, to save working; but this process was considered less practical from the point of view of stowage. (~Van Yk~, p. 17 and figure A, p. 18.) They gave their ships loof (~Witsen~, p. 126) and broad sides (“dick in den buik”, as ~Witsen~ says on p. 207), the reverse of what was done for the Dutch vessels. “The Dutch ships”, says ~Holmes~ (p. 110), “excelled all others in one respect: that they were the first in which the absurd practice of an exaggerated ‹tumble home› or contraction of the upper deck was abandoned. This fashion”, he said further on, “was still carried out to a very great extent by the English and to a less extent by the French and Spaniards”. ~Holmes~ speaks also of the light draught of our vessels. He expresses himself on this subject as follows on page 111 of his work: “In consequence of the shallowness of the Dutch harbours, the draught of their ships was also considerably less than that of the English vessels of corresponding force”. The English had at their disposal docks for the construction of their ships (~Witsen~, p. 206, column I.); they used neither ribands nor shores. Before laying down their ships, says ~Van Yk~ (p. 19), they so prepared the models as to give them the shape desired. For this purpose, and before starting construction, they laid out the frames at full size on a floor. This process was, therefore, born in England. The laying out of the full scale drawings was only adopted with us at the middle of the XVIIIth century. Before this time, only models and ribands were used in our country, as is still the present practice for building the smaller wooden vessels and many fishing boats. This new method, however, was not introduced without trouble; and the more so as there was doubt of success in applying it to the Dutch ships, which, as ~Van Yk~ says (p. 19), “had rounded sides, _to allow them to glide over the water_, and _sharper angles_ than the English ships” which had a more regular contour. The Swedes and Danes followed the Dutch method in the main. (~Van Yk~, p. 20.) Their navy was copied after ours (~De Jonge~), but their ships were not so full and drew more.